THE ESTATE OF CALEB TIMMOTHY ISENBERG, BY AND THROUGH MELANIE VICTORIA MCCULLOUGH, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE, THOMAS GLENN CONYERS, II, BY THROUGH HIS PARENT AND NATURAL GUARDIAN, ETC., ET AL
v.
SMITH EQUITIES CORPORATION AND GERALD A. SMITH

Fla. 5th DCA | 2021-01-08
No. 20-0285
Calderon, J., Lambert, J., Eisnaugle, J., Harris, J.
Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2021)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

A motion for attorneys' fees under section 57.105, Florida Statutes, must be served no later than 30 days after filing of the judgment concluding the action, and this time requirement is a bright-line rule that admits no exceptions.


Headnotes

[1] Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525 imposes a bright-line time requirement that a motion for attorneys' fees must be served no later than 30 days after filing of the ju…

Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“bright-line time requirement”

The court cited Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid, 930 So. 2d 598, 600 (Fla. 2006), describing rule 1.525 as a 'bright-line time requirement.'

Facts & Procedural History

The Estate of Caleb Timmothy Isenberg and Thomas Glenn Conyers II appealed a trial court's second amended final judgment awarding attorneys' fees and …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
Harris

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

FIFTH DISTRICT

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO

FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND

DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

THE ESTATE OF CALEB TIMMOTHY

ISENBERG, BY AND THROUGH MELANIE

VICTORIA MCCULLOUGH, PERSONAL

REPRESENTATIVE, THOMAS GLENN

CONYERS, II, BY AND THROUGH HIS

PARENT AND NATURAL GUARDIAN, ETC., ET AL.,

Appellants,

v. Case No. 5D20-285

SMITH EQUITIES CORPORATION AND

GERALD A. SMITH,

Appellees.

________________________________/

Opinion filed January 8, 2021

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Luis Fernando Calderon, Judge.

E.

Timothy McCullough, of McCullough & Mitchell, P.A., Windermere, for Appellants.

Scott A. Cole, of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., Miami, for Appellees.

PER CURIAM.

Appellants, the Estate of Caleb Timmothy Isenberg, by and through Melanie Victoria McCullough, Personal Representative, and T.G.C., II, by and through his parent

2 and natural guardian, Melanie Victoria McCullough, and their counsel, Earl Timothy McCullough (collectively, “Appellants”), appeal the trial court’s second amended final judgment awarding attorneys’ fees and costs against them pursuant to section 57.105, Florida Statutes (2019), and in favor of the Appellees, Smith Equities Corporation and Gerald A. Smith. We reverse because, as Appellants correctly argue on appeal, Appellees’ motion for fees was untimely pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525 (requiring the motion to be served “no later than 30 days after filing of the judgment” that “concludes the action as to that party”).

We decline Appellees’ invitation to create an exception to the rule’s time requirement. Such an exception would be contrary to the plain language of the rule. See Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid, 930 So. 2d 598, 600 (Fla. 2006) (describing rule 1.525 as a “bright-line time requirement”).

REVERSED.

LAMBERT, EISNAUGLE, and HARRIS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw